Repeated surgical embryo recovery and embryo production in rabbits

The purpose of this study was to assess the embryo production after repeated surgical recovery of embryos in Gigante de España does. A total of 195 ovulatory treatments and embryo recoveries were performed from 1995 to 1999. Ovulation was induced by an intramuscular injection of 20 μg GnRH immediately after mating. Each doe was induced to ovulate up to four consecutive times at intervals of at least 50 days. Embryos were surgically collected from oviducts 68–69 h post-coitus. An average of 8.6 corpora lutea and 6.4 recovered embryos (90% of them classified as viable) were recorded from the 195 treatments. The process seemed to be less efficient in the fourth treatment, with a drop of more than two recovered and viable morulae with reference to the third (P<0.05 for both parameters) or the second recovery (P<0.1 and P<0.05, respectively). More than 20 recovered embryos and 18 viable embryos per donor doe were recorded considering the three first ovulatory treatments performed in 33% of the does (30/90). Results indicate that the methodology used in the present study could be an efficient way to maximize in vivo embryo production from rabbits.